Tzanakopoulos: Aegean borders are not disputable

“Turkey may provoke as much as it likes, but the borders in the Aegean are indisputable,” government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said today, after the Turkish foreign ministry declared in an official statement that Turkey has sovereignty over the Imia islets.

Tzanakopoulos said there is no confirmation of Ankara’s claims that the Turkish Coast Guard and commandoes took down a Greek flag on a Greek rock islet, and he noted that the policy of constant provocations and escalation has not helped Turkey.

Tzanakopoulos was critical of the move of three Greek young men who on 13 April raised the Greek flag on the islet Mikros Anthropofas and nearby islets, west of Samos.

“The entire political system concurs that foreign policy is not to be conducted by private individuals, but rather by the duly constituted organs of the state,” the spokesman underlined.

Regarding the two Greek army officers imprisoned in Turkey, Tzanakopoulos said he cannot project a timeframe for the resolution of the matter.

Tzanakopoulos called on Ankara not to “confuse its shadow with its stature”.

He confirmed that Ankara requested a flight plan from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ helicopter, when he was en route yesterday to Ro island, accompanied by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Apostolakis, but that this was not provided and the incident ended when two Greek fighter jets went to the scene.

Tzanakoopoulos said there are open lines of communication with Turkey and that the rhetoric must be toned down.